Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Teaching: An Incessant Journey

Teaching: An Incessant Journey

        As I was writing down my thoughts about professional standards of a teacher (which was a work related requirement before the Chinese New Year), I went counting back and found out that this is already my 10th year of teaching. It is such a surprise to see that I have been teaching and learning for a decade already. I have met different students. I have gained different experiences. I have fought different challenges. I have listened to different stories and witnessed surprises. This for me is just a beginning of a journey – a reflection of an incessant journey called teaching.

        I still see myself as a teacher for the next decade and decades to come. But up till now, I still want to find out “What makes a good teacher?” If I consider myself a good teacher, then I have to look at my personal qualities that I can boast. Personally, there are two qualities that I have that are beneficial to children- organization and sharing life lessons. The former takes years to learn while the latter takes years to experience. You put these two ingredients together will make learning recipe more meaningful to children.



        How then did I learn how to be organized? When, I was a kid, my mom would ask me to fix the clothes in my dresser. I paired socks up before putting them in the socks bag. I do the dishes and followed the basics like removing excess food first or soap the cups then the spoons then the plates. I also bound my old notebooks together by poking a hole using a nail and sewing them with the white yarn. All these things are basic organization experiences that I have gone through. I grew up fixing my bed when I wake up and it became a habit. These are also life lessons that I considered useful as I was growing.



        In the classroom, organization can be observed in preparing the lessons of the day, daily routines formed, and certain rules suggested for kids to follow. This year, I have started it with organizing the rules of the class. I printed out colored pictures of rules that I want kids to follow in the classroom. These simple rules include eyes looking, ears listening, and mouth quiet, sit straight, raise hands, helping hands, and be friendly. I also added up good pictures to go with the rules. This way kids will see the meaning of the words. With good organization, the teaching would be smooth and fruitful. I always start the day by reminding kids about the class rules and repeat the Seven Rules aloud. I have seen better results. This way organization really matters.

 
        In the lesson, kids should be aware of what they are expected of for the month. With the thematic teaching, kids are aware of the theme lessons they will take up. Walls of the month’s theme are ready for kids to begin learning. My English wall will also be ready. Thematic words and concepts, posters, teaching materials are well decorated in the classroom. Kids will feel the new theme atmosphere when they see changes in the walls. Last year, themes that were taken included My Schoolhouse, Food around the World, My Body, Family and Christmas. I hope that come new term I would consistently make kids aware of the month’s lessons.

        Organization also comes in routines. Learning routines are important. Kids should be safe when they know the sequence of activities in the day. The more practice we do with the routines, the more effective classroom activities will be.

       Life lessons are learned as several bits of memorable experiences that are puzzled into great pictures turned into flashcards of life. Life lessons can be great stories you can share with kids. In teaching I try to show my real experiences to kids. If I talk about animals, then I show real pictures of my pets, my travels to the zoo and the like. This way when kids listen to the stories, they are more colorable. Then, kids can also share experiences about animals they have seen, touched or cared. Recently, while talking about family, I grab my computer and showed them my family tree which my cousin made. I found kids were interested to see the pictures of my family members. These prompted several queries ranging from the most bizarre to the most serious ones. Some kids asked “Do you have mother?” “Where is your grandpa?”  “Is he still alive?” “How many people are there in your family?” “Who’s this and who’s that?” They even asked me to show more pictures of my family. Some gave hilarious comments about facial features and skin colors. Some kids wanted to see special pictures of the babies in the family. Some were quietly listening and watching. Using these pictures learning can become more active and interesting. Kids as people would love to see real people.

         Kids in the future will never remember what knowledge or contents we have taught them but will remember teachers who have contributed to them with life lessons. The primary reason for teaching is to prepare the kids to become good members of the society. I have a great role in the life changing process of my kids.

1 comment:

Unknown said...


Admin, if not okay please remove!

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www.teespring.com/prostate-cancer-research

Thanks